Sac Levee Upgrades Mitigation

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Documents

ARCF Final General Reevaluation Report - Jan 2016
Main Report
Appendices

ARCF Final EIS-EIR - Jan 2016
Main Report
Appendices

Contact Information

For more information on
Sacramento Levee Upgrades,
please contact us at the following:

Phone:
916-557-5100

E-mail:
spk-pao@usace.army.mil

Mailing Address:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Sacramento District
1325 J Street, Room 1513
Sacramento, CA 95814

How are we mitigating?

USACE and its partners are diligently looking for ways to reduce project impacts during design phase. Some current proposals are to use bioengineering solutions along the riverbanks, create planting benches in areas that require erosion protection, and transplant elderberry shrubs to ensure the survival of the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beatle. We are also looking for locations along the main stem of the Sacramento River to enhance fish habitats for salmonids and delta smelt. Once all phases of the Sacramento Levee Upgrades program are complete, the Sacramento and American Rivers will provide better quality habitat and more scenic views thanks to the native vegetation that will be planted at every site.

Mitigation vs Restoration

Mitigation is an action taken to reduce the severity and intensity of the proposed work on the existing environment. Additional mitigative actions are required by resource agencies, such as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Services, for impacts to habitat that is used by federal and/or state-listed species.

Restoration is an action taken to repair, renovate, or replace the lost form and function of an altered or degraded habitat. For information on Sacramento District environmental projects, please visit our website: https://www.spk.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental-Projects/

What are we mitigating for?

National Marine Fisheries Service

Sacramento River Winter-run Chinook Salmon
Central Valley Spring-run Chinook Salmon
Central Valley Steelhead
Green Sturgeon

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (VELB)
Delta Smelt
Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo (YBCU)

Fish & Wildlife Coordination Act Habitats

Oak Woodland
Riparian Forest
Riparian Scrub-Scrub
Emergent Wetland

Current/Future Projects - American River

Paradise Bend (Formerly Glenn Hall)
Objective: This mitigation site is located in the neighborhood of River Park in East Sacramento, California. This particular site has two purposes. The first is to replace invasive locust trees with native shade trees. The second is to receive transplanted elderberry shrubs that may contain the listed Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (VELB). The theory is that by not destroying the shrubs and relocating them to nearby suitable habitat we will ensure the continued existence of any beetle that may be residing inside the branches. Once transplants are placed, the remainder of the site will be planted with additional native vegetation.

Duration: Site preparation and planting of transplants will begin in Fall 2022.

Work Areas: This site is located on the downstream side of Paradise Beach, on the water side of the levee from Glenn Hall Park.

Additional News/Notes:
- Designs were drafted in coordination with Sacramento County, Department of Regional Parks POC.
- This site is paired with Lower American River Erosion C3A, for VELB mitigation.
Rio Americano East
Objective: This mitigation site is located in the city of Carmichael, California. This particular site has been designed to receive transplanted elderberry shrubs that may contain the listed Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (VELB). The theory is that by not destroying the shrubs and relocating them to nearby suitable habitat we will ensure the continued existence of any beetle that may be residing inside the branches. Once transplants are placed, the remainder of the site will be planted with additional native vegetation.

Duration: Site preparation and transplants began in Spring 2022 and will continue in Fall 2022.

Work Areas: This site is located on the water side of the levee just downstream of Rio Americano High School.

Additional News/Notes:
- Designs were drafted in coordination with Sacramento County, Department of Regional Parks POC.
- This site is paired with Lower American River Erosion C2, for VELB mitigation.
Rio Americano West
Objective: This mitigation site is located in the city of Carmichael, California. This particular site has been designed to receive transplanted elderberry shrubs that may contain the listed Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (VELB). The theory is that by not destroying the shrubs and relocating them to nearby suitable habitat we will ensure the continued existence of any beetle that may be residing inside the branches. Once transplants are placed, the remainder of the site will be planted with additional native vegetation.

Duration: Site preparation and transplants will occur Fall 2022 and Spring 2023.

Work Areas: This site is located on the water side of the levee just east of Rio Americano High School.

Additional News/Notes:
- Designs were drafted in coordination with Sacramento County, Department of Regional Parks POC.
- This site is paired with Lower American River Erosion C2, for VELB mitigation.
Rossmoor East
Objective: This mitigation site is located in the city of Rancho Cordova, California. This particular site has been designed to receive transplanted elderberry shrubs that may contain the listed Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (VELB). The theory is that by not destroying the shrubs and relocating them to nearby suitable habitat we will ensure the continued existence of any beetle that may be residing inside the branches. Once transplants are placed, the remainder of the site will be planted with additional native vegetation.

Duration: Site preparation and transplants will occur Fall 2022 and Spring 2023.

Work Areas: This site is located near the middle of Rossmoor bar, adjacent to other mitigation sites.

Additional News/Notes:
- Designs were drafted in coordination with Sacramento County, Department of Regional Parks POC.
- This site is paired with Lower American River Erosion C2, for VELB mitigation.
Rossmoor West
Objective: This mitigation site is located in the city of Rancho Cordova, California. This particular site has been designed to receive transplanted elderberry shrubs that may contain the listed Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (VELB). The theory is that by not destroying the shrubs and relocating them to nearby suitable habitat we will ensure the continued existence of any beetle that may be residing inside the branches. Once transplants are placed, the remainder of the site will be planted with additional native vegetation.

Duration: Site preparation and transplants will occur Fall 2023 and Spring 2024.

Work Areas: This site is located just downstream of Rossmoor Bar in an abandoned agricultural field.

Additional News/Notes:
- Designs were drafted in coordination with Sacramento County, Department of Regional Parks POC.
- This site is paired with Lower American River Erosion C3A and CB, for VELB mitigation.

Current/Future Projects - Sacramento River

Beach Stone Lakes
Objective: Designed to provide riparian habitat mitigation to support both Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (VELB) and Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, which are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. This site also provides for areas to receive transplanted elderberry shrubs, the host plant for VELB, that must be removed from the construction footprint.

Duration: Work began at this site in Fall 2019 and planting was completed by early 2020. Plant establishment and maintenance activities will continue until 2024. Establishment monitoring will be conducted until it has been determined the plants have successfully established. This will be determined based on plant survival, growth of the canopy, and at least two years without supplemental irrigation (expected between 2024-2027).

Actions: Additional elderberry shrubs will be transplanted to this site over the next couple of years from various contracts along the Sacramento River and potentially a few from the American River.

Work Areas: This mitigation site is located south of the city of Freeport, California, between the Sacramento River and I-5 along Morrison Creek.

Additional News/Notes:
- Early indications from the annual monitoring indicate that the plantings have had a high survival rate since the initial planting efforts in 2020 and the canopy growth has also been significant, which can be viewed on Google Earth.
- This site is paired with Sacramento River East Levee Contracts 1-4.
- This site received one cluster of Elderberry Shrubs from LAR Contract 1.

Completed Projects/Contracts

Fremont Landing Conservation Bank
Purchase of 20 credits for Green Sturgeon and Salmonid Impacts. To benefit all Sac River contract impacts. – 2019
River Ranch Conservation Bank
Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beatle Credit purchase for Sac Weir Impacts – 2020
Research Grant
Study of Juvenile Green Sturgeon in the Sacramento River. To reduce the NMFS mitigation ratio for all contract impacts. - 2020

Frequently Asked Questions

What is mitigation?
In general, mitigation refers to actions to reduce, offset or compensate for an adverse impact. Mitigation can be undertaken for noise, air or water quality, traffic and impacts to animals and habitats. These measures start with avoiding the impact altogether by eliminating some of the activity. Where impacts are unavoidable, steps are taken to minimize their effect. This is done through developing best management practices that become part of our contract documents. Sometimes, additional compensation is required to address unavoidable impacts so they can be offset or reduced to a level that is considered less than significant. Multiple State and Federal regulations govern these requirements including 32 CFR § 651.15 - Mitigation and monitoring.
Where is mitigation occurring?
Per the biological opinions received from USFWS and NMFS for ARCF16, we are required to mitigate as close to our impacts as possible. For the Sacramento River East Levee Seepage, Stability and Overtopping work, all the required mitigation was able to be accomplished at Beach Stone Lakes, a single site south of the project impacts .

In the erosion project footprints for both the American and Sacramento Rivers, some of that habitat will be replaced on-site by creating planting benches or other site plantings. We cannot fit all of our mitigation in the planting benches, but on the Lower American River we are able to keep the majority of the mitigation within that section of river close to the impacts. These sites include Rio Americano East and West, Paradise Bend and Rossmoor East and West.
For impacts on the Sacramento River, we still aim to mitigate as close to impact areas as feasible; however, in the case that habitat mitigation is done greater than 20 river miles from the project footprints, the ratio applied to that mitigation would be increased incrementally. Additionally, where mitigation banks have suitable mitigation credits available, we may purchase credits for some of our project work. Such is the case for the Sacramento River Erosion Projects where we purchased Salmon and Green Sturgeon credits at Fremont Landing Conservation Bank in 2019 and the Sacramento Weir where we purchased Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle credits in 2022.

Further reading:
Some of our specific mitigation sites and actions are listed here: Sac Levee Upgrades Mitigation (army.mil)
Why are these projects and their impacts necessary?
The Sacramento Metropolitan area is one of the most at-risk areas for flooding in the United States. The Sacramento River General Reevaluation Report determined that some sections of our levees are vulnerable due to seepage, overtopping, instability and/or erosion. This potential levee failure poses an unacceptably high risk of flooding that threatens the public safety of approximately 530,000 people and 83,000 structures. Such flooding could reach as much as 20 feet deep and potentially cause $3.6 billion in damages. The purpose of the American River Watershed Common Features 2016 project (ARCF) is to improve the existing infrastructure to reduce this flood risk along the American and Sacramento Rivers. The work authorized under includes the construction of up to: 13 miles of seepage cutoff walls, 21 miles of bank protection, 5 miles of levee stabilization, 5 miles of levee raises and widening the Sacramento Weir and bypass. This work cannot be completed without some impact to the areas surrounding the construction footprint.

Further reading: Sacramento District > Missions > Civil Works > Sacramento River GRR (army.mil)
Area of Concern Map: ARCF map _Areas of concern_2013.jpg (694×1073) (army.mil)
How will access to recreation be impacted by mitigation sites?
Some mitigation is planned in areas of public land within the Lower American River Parkway. It is important to balance recreational interests while we work to enhance the fish and wildlife values and meet our mitigation requirements. To accomplish this, mitigation is sited in areas of open non-native grassland or groves dominated by invasive species where it will provide the most ecological benefit and avoid permanent impacts to formal trails, bike paths, beaches, and other defined recreation. During construction, mitigation work will not prevent the public from utilizing most beaches or hiking trails; however, there may be some temporary closures or detours in place. In the Lower American River, these are coordinated with Sacramento County Regional Parks in advance and signage and flaggers may be utilized to ensure public and worker safety. Once the mitigation construction is completed, access to the formal trails will be restored and the protected areas will be marked to restrict access to those areas so that the plantings are not disturbed. It is important to reduce human traffic in the mitigation areas so the site can be established and meet the criteria for success designated for the habitat and listed species.
Who is responsible for providing mitigation for this project?
The American River Common Features 16 (ARCF16) project partners, including USACE, Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA), and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board in coordination with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) are responsible for carrying out required mitigation.